diff --git a/virtcontainers/container.go b/virtcontainers/container.go
index 20b96a585c..c2d27250ec 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/container.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/container.go
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ func (c *Container) createBlockDevices() error {
 }
 
 // newContainer creates a Container structure from a sandbox and a container configuration.
-func newContainer(sandbox *Sandbox, contConfig ContainerConfig) (*Container, error) {
+func newContainer(sandbox *Sandbox, contConfig *ContainerConfig) (*Container, error) {
 	span, _ := sandbox.trace("newContainer")
 	defer span.Finish()
 
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ func newContainer(sandbox *Sandbox, contConfig ContainerConfig) (*Container, err
 		id:            contConfig.ID,
 		sandboxID:     sandbox.id,
 		rootFs:        contConfig.RootFs,
-		config:        &contConfig,
+		config:        contConfig,
 		sandbox:       sandbox,
 		runPath:       store.ContainerRuntimeRootPath(sandbox.id, contConfig.ID),
 		configPath:    store.ContainerConfigurationRootPath(sandbox.id, contConfig.ID),
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ func (c *Container) createMounts() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Container) createDevices(contConfig ContainerConfig) error {
+func (c *Container) createDevices(contConfig *ContainerConfig) error {
 	// If sandbox supports "newstore", only newly created container can reach this function,
 	// so we don't call restore when `supportNewStore` is true
 	if !c.sandbox.supportNewStore() {
diff --git a/virtcontainers/sandbox.go b/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
index 04b6f5029a..6458e69812 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
@@ -1099,7 +1099,7 @@ func (s *Sandbox) fetchContainers() error {
 		contConfig.Spec = &spec
 		s.config.Containers[i] = contConfig
 
-		c, err := newContainer(s, contConfig)
+		c, err := newContainer(s, &s.config.Containers[i])
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ func (s *Sandbox) fetchContainers() error {
 func (s *Sandbox) CreateContainer(contConfig ContainerConfig) (VCContainer, error) {
 	storeAlreadyExists := store.VCContainerStoreExists(s.ctx, s.id, contConfig.ID)
 	// Create the container.
-	c, err := newContainer(s, contConfig)
+	c, err := newContainer(s, &contConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -1417,7 +1417,7 @@ func (s *Sandbox) createContainers() error {
 
 	for _, contConfig := range s.config.Containers {
 
-		c, err := newContainer(s, contConfig)
+		c, err := newContainer(s, &contConfig)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/virtcontainers/sandbox_test.go b/virtcontainers/sandbox_test.go
index 807f3e9104..e6d38a310b 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/sandbox_test.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/sandbox_test.go
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ func TestSandboxGetContainer(t *testing.T) {
 
 	contID := "999"
 	contConfig := newTestContainerConfigNoop(contID)
-	nc, err := newContainer(p, contConfig)
+	nc, err := newContainer(p, &contConfig)
 	assert.NoError(err)
 
 	err = p.addContainer(nc)
@@ -1043,7 +1043,7 @@ func TestDeleteStoreWhenNewContainerFail(t *testing.T) {
 			DevType:       "",
 		},
 	}
-	_, err = newContainer(p, contConfig)
+	_, err = newContainer(p, &contConfig)
 	assert.NotNil(t, err, "New container with invalid device info should fail")
 	storePath := store.ContainerConfigurationRootPath(testSandboxID, contID)
 	_, err = os.Stat(storePath)